Dust Control – Soil Stabilization – Erosion Control

Posts Tagged ‘dust control’

3 groups threatening to file a lawsuit against Alaska Railroad Corp.

ANCHORAGE – When the north wind blows in Seward, dust flies off a large pile of coal and covers the town’s scenic boat harbor in black grit.

"It is just very, very, very dirty. It piles up against homes. I get reports of it in windowsills, inside locked cars, inside boats. Folks come back after the winter and find piles of it inside their locked up boats," said Russ Maddox with the Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance.

That local group has tried for years to fix the problem, and now three conservation groups are threatening to file a lawsuit against Alaska Railroad Corp. and Aurora Energy Services LLC, alleging they are discharging coal without a permit into Resurrection Bay – a popular destination for summer tourists.

Trustees for Alaska, a public interest law firm representing the Alaska Center for the Environment, Alaska Community on Toxics and the Alaska chapter of the Sierra Club late last month issued a 60-day notice of intent to sue.

The groups accuse the railroad and Aurora Energy of violating the federal Clean Water Act.

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Among the range of solutions that Odourdust Dust Control can offer for stopping dust rise or to suppress it from the air is Buffalo Turbine’s Monsoon. This unit will move water or other fluid through a proprietary gyrating atomizing nozzle, which will expel solution from a rotating hub through a screen at the perimeter of the atomizing nozzle. This results in a high speed impact that pulverises the fluid into a uniform spectrum of droplets.

When formed the tiny droplets will mix with the highly turbulent airflow generated by the Buffalo Turbine 14" single stage turbine, and will be projected into the air. The 50-200 micron size droplets will collect and trap airborne Dust Particulates and odours, ultimately resulting in an immediate reduction of pollution on site.

No generator is required for this diesel-driven, portable unit. Wireless nozzle and throttle control and oscillating stand and a reach of 40 m provides controlled dust suppression for a range of sites.

Now i can see the residents point of view as well as Mr. White’s. It takes time to complete projects like this and staging is part of the game. You don’t redo you dust control every day. The people have a right to clean air and the builder has the obligation to keep it that way. Bu some times we each have to think of the others situation. I guess if he has started with a dust control product like Top-Seal from the very start he would have been in better shape. I can promise you it would have been less than 10k per day.

The state’s Department of Ecology issued a violations notice and order to developer Calvin White for not taking care of dust control problems at two East Wenatchee subdivisions he has been in the process of developing since 2006.

The notice of violations and order, dated Sept. 23, indicates White could face a $10,000 civil penalty each day for each violation if he does not take corrective action.

White has 30 days to appeal the corrective order the DOE issued along with the violations notice; but in the past two weeks, he has been busy at Aspen Hills and Calalina Crest subdivisions north of East Wenatchee. He put in a road, leveled a mountainous pile of dirt and hydroseeded the two properties with an erosion-control seed mix.

Susan Billings, DOE’s section manager for the Central Regional Air Quality Section out of Yakima, said the department has received steady complaints from neighbors of the two subdivision sites.

The notice said neighbors provided detailed reports about ongoing impacts to their health and welfare, damage to their property and inability to enjoy their residences indoors or outside.

Dave Hulligan, whose duplex was situated next to a nearly 60-foot-high pile of soil on White’s land until White leveled it Thursday, said, “It’s almost like living in a sandstorm.”

He said if his garage door is open for even a few minutes, the fine particulate fills up his tool cases.

“My mom, who is staying with me, has asthma, and at times it is impossible for her to breathe,” Hulligan said.

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The Veolia materials recycling facility (MRF) at Mansfield, officially opened on 10^th March by the Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council The Hon. Joan Taylor MBE, is a state of the art waste separation and handling centre housed in a new dedicated building. Through O Kay Engineering Services Ltd., Dantherm Filtration were contracted to provide the necessary dust control measures. As all plant is situated within the building, floor space and headroom were significant factors in the selection of the extraction equipment. Two Dantherm Cyclopac 4Y5 cyclonic dust collectors with a combined capacity of 52,300m³/h, were installed to extract from eight conveyor transfer points and three air knives. These filter units handle the maximum airflow volume whilst occupying only about 3m² of floor space each. The other air knife was served by a separate Dantherm MJB tubular bag filter. Waste from each Cyclopac filter is discharged via a rotary valve into two separate bins fitted with castors for convenience.

Whilst footprint and headroom were key reasons why O Kay Engineering selected Dantherm, they also wanted to use a single supplier for all the dust control needs. To this end, Dantherm also supplied four air knives with dedicated blower fans rated at 1870m³/h each associated with a Dantherm NFV material separator. Nordfab QF clipped and FL ducting, manufactured by Dantherm, was used throughout, extracting from purpose designed hoods for each function. A further requirement was full ATEX compliance for all relevant components. The new filter units, rotary valves and material separators  have all been externally tested and carry ATEX EC-Type Examination certificates.

Working in close cooperation with the customer, Dantherm’s  project team Adrian Sharpe and Chris Mumford were able to supply every aspect of the dust control system unobtrusively to meet the exacting needs of the processes.

Dantherm Filtration Ltd.,
Limewood Approach,
Seacroft , Leeds LS14 1NG

People who live on heavily traveled limerock roads will see some relief in the future.

County commissioners voted 5-0 to adopt the next phase of the five-year surface treatment plan, which allocates money for dust control to limerock roads most in need.

County Engineer Charles Mixsone said county commissioners have approved putting $390,000 into its limerock road surface treatment program to help with dust control.

During the next five years, the program will apply surface treatment for dust control on roughly 15 miles of selected limerock roads in the county. That amounts to three miles per year for five years.

The roads getting treated fall into certain categories, including amount of traffic, proximity to major highways and number of people who live on the street.

Roads targeted for treatment in 2010 include Sharon Court, Lewis Lane, August Avenue and Batten Road.

In 1991 Crop Production Services, added a new wrinkle to its product line.

Along with the usual wholesale seed treatment and fertilizer products it supplies to area farms, it added a service that would help carry it through the sometimes slower summer months.

Now, 18 years later, it is still taking advantage of that innovation that gives dust control and some soil stabilization for roads for various clients throughout Linn and Benton counties.

“We would generally slow down after the spring season so this kept us pretty active,” said Operations Manager Fred Wutzke.

The product, DUSTAC® Road Binder dust control product, is designed to control dust on unpaved roads. Wutzke says it is an impressive and environmentally sound product. And it comes from the Pacific Northwest.

“It’s made from a sulfite pulping process,” said Wutzke. “It’s a tree based binder.”

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This story is not uncommon to us. many time good intentions don’t always end up the way we want them to. In this case the method used for erosion control is not exactly panning out the way they expected, now they have a dust control problem as well as an erosion control nightmare about to take place.

Had anyone else built this hillside near the U.S.-Mexico border, it would look nothing like it does. The barren hill would be alive with native plants, the earth would be solidly rooted and not a threat to tumble down into the Tijuana Estuary, a lush, 2,500-acre salt marsh that starts 600 feet away.

But along the newly constructed border fence near the Pacific Ocean in Border Field State Park, inch-thick tan clumps of seeds and mulch still blanket the ground. They haven’t been watered, so no plants have grown.

When Top-Seal is used for erosion control and or dust control, the application can be adjusted so that the end result will promote growth of new vegetation. In farming there is a practice called moisture banking. The objective is to leave the soil undisturbed after there has been a long soaking rain. This rain will create a protective crust on the surface of the soil. This crust will help keep the moisture in the soil. When Top-Seal is used to create this protective layer for either erosion control or dust control, the effects are even more drastic. In the long run, the moisture that is banked and the sealed, is there for the seeds to utilize for growth.

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A recent article about Curt Ditter caught my attention. This article, which I will post below, discussed the issues of a small township that often times finds itself scraped for cash. While the bankers are getting bonuses and bailouts, we the people have to find ways to make ends meet. This includes our towns as well. It was within this article that they mentioned Dust Control. Now in times past and in many places still today, the standard operating procedure was to use Calcium Chloride. Granted Calcium works for dust control, for a while and it has some drawbacks with regards to the corrosion and environmental aspects. I say for a while for one simple reason. Once it starts to rain on that Calcium Chloride it starts to wash away.

With Top-Seal you do not have this problem. But you see, when the dust control question arises in debate the cost per application is the only number generally taken into consideration. If they actually wish to save money they need to look are the expected life of each application. An example if one product cost 30% more but only need to be put on once compared to 4 applications of the less expensive product. Which would you chose.  Well if you want to keep you votes you chose the less expensive but if you want to stay in office for a while, you better think long term. For a temporary, reoccurring dust control product, stay with Calcium Chloride, for a long term solution you should seriously consider Top-Seal. Finally the article that caused this thought.

Several people are running for two trustee seats in Brush Creek Township. Rumors of promises made are spreading faster than a plague. Water being extended, chip-seal for roads. We thought water line extensions were handled by the county commissioners, not township trustees. As for chip-seal, Brush Creek is a poor township and can barely afford dust control that is put down on part of our 36 miles of gravel road. We go to meetings and listen to them trying to find money to do more for the township. We can’t even afford a building to lock equipment in to protect it from vandals.

Incumbent Curt Ditter, one of the first to give up his health insurance and saving the township money, is the only one to say he would not take it back. He takes his trustee responsibilities seriously. He always does what he feels is best for the township, never showing partiality to friends. During the four years we’ve been going to meetings, we’ve come to know Ditter well and can swear to this as we never receive special attention for our road. One of the other candidates told my husband that he was only running for the health insurance. We could find the township back to spending 40 percent of the year’s budget on health insurance for the trustees if we’re not careful who we put in office. Ditter doesn’t promise things to get re-elected that he knows can’t be done.

In the past two years, the meetings have been moved from Monday morning back to Saturday night so working trustees and residents can attend. There is no distention between the active trustees and residents being upset in meetings. Roads are in better condition, and no trustee is being prevented from doing his job or running the equipment.

Do we really want things to go backwards? William Daniels is the only other candidate who regularly comes to meetings. We support Ditter and Daniels.

An advisory for blowing dust has been issued for the Las Vegas Valley and surrounding areas as gusty winds are expected Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon.

The Clark County Department of Air Quality, dust control  and Environmental Management is advising residents and construction site operators to prepare ways to reduce windblown dust grains as gusts could reach up to 60 mph Tuesday afternoon and into Wednesday.

As part of the county’s dust control program, air quality officials are sending notice to construction sites asking them to take precautions to prevent blowing dust. Air quality officials will continue to monitor the air and will post an alert on the DAQEM Web site if unhealthy levels of dust occur.

If high winds occur, local or valley-wide areas of blowing dust are likely to occur, air quality officials said. Children, the elderly and people with respiratory diseases are urged to stay indoors during dust storms.

Better late than never, many of the residents, government works and construction site managers have been contacting SCI to try and improve their dust control program. Over the next few months SCI will be assisting customers is Las Vegas to try and improve their dust control operations.

Residents are encouraged to call Air Quality’s dust complaint hot line at 385-DUST to report excessive amounts of blowing dust.

Air Quality officials also recommend residents drive slowly on unpaved roads, not take shortcuts across vacant lots, ride off-road vehicles only in approved areas outside the urban Las Vegas Valley, and fence off barren property or cover it with gravel, rock or desert-friendly landscaping to keep dust down during high winds.

Here are a few pictures of Soils Control International working some sample projects in Brazil.

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